DEWmocracy: Mountain Dew Voltage in a Landslide

Mountain Dew sent me the “DEWmocracy” sample packs that they’ve been giving to bloggers for review (read a good early review here) so late last week I broke it out the three pack they sent me, and decided to give the sodas a try. They have created three new soda flavors, and in the true spirit of an election year, they have decided that whichever sample flavor gets the most votes on the Dewmocracy website will become their brand new Mountain Dew flavor.

The three flavors being offered (from left to right) are:

Voltage (Raspberry Citrus)

Revolution (Wild Berry Fruit)

Supernova (Strawberry Melon)

Continue reading for my reviews as well as some interesting state-by-state voting trends.

I tasted the Voltage first. On first glance, it looked like a lightly colored anti-freeze. The taste was sweet and syrupy, but ultimately quite satisfying. A couple people I was tasting it with suggested it tasted like a flavor-ice, which made sense, but didn’t feel 100% accurate. Then it hit me: Slush Puppys. The blue raspberry flavoring used by Mountain Dew tasted just like the bottom of a blue Slush Puppy. Yummy.

Next I moved on to the Revolution. Also blue, it was lighter in flavor than the Voltage and less syrupy. It kind of tasted like club soda with flavoring in it, or a sweeter, stronger seltzer water.

Supernova was the third one I hit up. While a couple of the women I was sampling with enjoyed this one the best, I just thought it was so-so. It smelled like tropical fruit Skittles. It was light, crisp and refreshing. The strawberry flavor was noticeable but mild, as was the hint of melon.

Revolution (Wild Berry) bored me. Supernova (strawberry) was good, but not great. Ultimately, Voltage, had the most full, robust, and enjoyable flavor.

It turns out, my opinion is being echoed by thousands of other Americans. How do I know? Because the Dewmocracy website is set up like a CNN real-time election results board. One look at the map shows a swath of dark blue, indicating that Voltage (blue raspberry) has a stranglehold on the electoral college, running in first place in every single state! C’mon Supernova and Revolution! Pathetic! Even Walter Mondale won at least one state!

Even more interesting, you can click on any state and check out the real-time voting results. For example, in my home state of Vermont, Voltage holds a healthy 11% lead over Revolution, and they are both destroying Supernova.

So why all the hate for the strawberry melon Revolution? Well, don’t be fooled. There appear to be some interesting regional taste preferences. I can’t discern the national trend, but the strawberry seems to be running ahead of the wild berry in large parts of the Southwest, Midwest and Southeast. For example, in California, it’s running a tight second place, with 39% to blue raspberry’s 44%.

Meanwhile, the Northeast seems to hate the strawberry melon, with the soda finishing a distant third in New York and nearly every New England state. Interesting.